The Equality Act 2010 introduced a single Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). The PSED applies to all maintained and independent schools, including academies and maintained and non-maintained special schools. Norfolk County Council has produced a guide for schools, which you can read here.
The Three Main Elements of the Duty
The duty came into effect in April 2011 and has three main elements. In carrying out their functions, public bodies are required to have due regard to the need to:
- Eliminate discrimination and other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
- Foster good relations across all characteristics and between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
As a public sector funded body, Ingoldisthorpe PrimarySchool complies with its duties as follows:
A Specific Duty: Publishing Information
-
Eliminating discrimination and other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
- Equality Policy
- Inclusion Policy
- Behaviour and Discipline Policy
- Anti-Bullying Policy
- E-safety Policy
- Harassment Policy
2. Advancing equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
Data which shows how students with different characteristics are performing:
a) Performance
- By ethnicity
- By group
b) Attendance
- By ethnicity and group
c) Exclusions
- By ethnicity and group
d) Improvement Plan (relating to relevant characteristics)
The school is working on improving the performance of pupils who are below expected national average performance.
The school is proud of its continuing record over the past ten years in regard to exclusions, which stands at NIL.
The school is working on improving the attendance of:
- Boys, particularly those at school action plus and those with a statement.
The school also monitors equality issues by tracking the performance and conduct of ‘vulnerable groups’ in comparison to non-vulnerable groups. It compares gender performance and conduct in each year group and benchmarks this against performance nationally.
3. Fostering good relations across all characteristics between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
Examples of assemblies dealing with relevant issues include themes on difference between people, multi-faith and Christian ethos,
Initiatives to deal with different groups of pupils within the school itself:
- Anti-Bullying Week
- Half term of PSHE on anti-bullying
- Daily Collective Worship assemblies to promote positive, caring attitudes